OMAHA, Neb. — Steve Sabins has helped lead West Virginia’s baseball program to unprecedented success.
The nation has taken notice.
Hours before the Mountaineers play their first game in the Men’s College World Series against Troy, the West Virginia coach was named the 2026 Mike Martin National Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association.
“It’s obviously a team award,” Sabins said. “You’re not awarded these kind of things unless the team has a lot of success, the assistants are working harder than anybody in the country and your players believe in what you’re doing.”
A No. 16 national seed, the Mountaineers (45-15) have a 17-3 record since May and have won five straight games, including three consecutive elimination contests to advance out of the Morgantown Regional.
“What you may not see is the way he takes technological advancements in the game and really meshes that with old school values and work ethic,” said Wren Baker, Vice President/Director of Athletics at WVU. “It’s something we’ve come to love, admire and appreciate. Maybe most important is the family person he is.”
In two seasons with Sabins as head coach, the Mountaineers are 89-31 with back-to-back campaigns of 44-plus victories. Those are the two winningest seasons in WVU baseball history.
“So many deserving people, and the ball has to kind of fall your way, and it certainly did,” Sabins said.
After defeating Wake Forest and Kentucky twice to advance out of the Morgantown Regional, West Virginia had its way in a Super Regional series with Cal Poly, winning 12-2 and 17-1 to claim its spot in the MCWS. In doing so, WVU became the third team in the Super Regional era to sweep a series with a pair of wins by 10 or more runs.
“Steve Sabins accomplished what some might have thought impossible 30-40 years ago by qualifying West Virginia for the World Series,” NCBWA Executive Director Bo Carter said. “He helped the Mountaineers win their first Super Regional in history and has inspired his student-athletes, coaches, fans and college baseball enthusiasts nationwide with his passion for the game and team success on and off the field. The entire NCBWA membership sends congratulations to Steve Sabins.”
Introduced in 2008, the NCBWA is voted on by the NCBWA Board of Directors and chosen from a list that includes all Division I conference coaches of the year and the coaches of the eight NCAA College World Series teams.
The award is named after longtime Florida State coach Mike Martin, the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history who compiled a 2,029-736-4 record before retiring in 2019.